On Sunday, Taylor Swift drew the ire of many conservatives by wading into the political arena for rare endorsement of two Tennessee Democrat politicians, citing LGBTQ rights, systemic racism, and women’s rights as her reason for making her voice heard.
“As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me,” wrote Swift, citing Blackburn’s support for religious freedom as well as her opposition to the Violence Against Women Act (due to certain provisions).
While a few conservatives immediately jumped to criticize one of the world’s biggest pop music icons for expressing her views, most have wisely showed restraint in managing to ignore Swift for expressing her views over Instagram.
[Related: Trump likes Taylor Swift’s music ‘about 25 percent less’ after pop star endorses Democrats]
No one likes finding out that their favorite singer or actor has political views that don’t align with theirs. As someone who has watched “Goodfellas” and “Casino” probably 100 times apiece, I still partially cringe every time I hear Robert DeNiro take to the stage to insult Republicans. However, conservatives dig themselves a hole every time they take the bait to initiate a culture spat with Hollywood.
Nobody is really surprised Taylor Swift is embracing Democrats this election cycle. Until the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, voter enthusiasm among Democratic women had been rising steadily, as was the case for GOP voters in 2010. Rather than attack Swift for supporting a candidate with whom you disagree with, conservatives would be wise to accept the fact that there are people on this Earth with whom we can disagree with.
Interestingly, Swift was careful to avoid a number of hot-button issues in her endorsement, likely to make her more endearing toward her fans that may disagree with her on a few issues. Nowhere in her post came any mention of increased taxes for the wealthy, “Medicare for all,” or even gun reform, which she has publicly supported in the past.
It is unclear whether Swift decided to wade into the political arena as a result of Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court the day before, or because she wanted to highlight the fact that this week is the deadline to register to vote in Tennessee, her home state. What is clear is that picking a battle with one of the most popular performers on the planet over one or two political disagreements won’t help Republicans get elected this November.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
